It’s exciting watching a star come into her own, and that’s what Adriana McPhee is — a young performer with a great pedigree just a year or so away from being a consummate artist.

It’s clear McPhee, at age 26, is still learning — from her mother, singer/voice teacher Peisha McPhee; from younger sister Katharine McPhee (of American Idol fame); and from family friend and mentor Julie Wilson — but she’s already absorbed enough to be performing her third show, Starting Here, Starting Now.

The evening allows McPhee the opportunity to trace her two-year career as a performer, which includes a gig in Paris with Julie Wilson, whose influence seems particularly clear in McPhee’s precise diction and the amount of emotion and sincerity she puts into each lyric.

While her physical moves seem a bit too practiced — turn left here, gaze right there — and the sensuality a bit forced, McPhee does have a beautiful voice, particularly in the middle register, though she’s a bit reedy on some higher notes.  But within her comfort zone, she’s able to exult in her full power when she builds to a belting climax in songs like “Where Am I Going?” by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields, or Stephen Sondheim’s “Sooner or Later.”

Her rendition of “Blame It on My Youth,” by Oscar Levant and Edward Heyman — sung in that comfortable middle register — was impeccable, and her excellent version of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” brought down the house.

McPhee sang a solid version of Kander and Ebb’s “Don’t Tell Mama” as a lead-in to an appearance by Peisha McPhee, who joined Adriana on “You Must Believe in Spring” by the Bergmans and Michel Legrand, followed by a “Happy Days”/”Get Happy” counterpoint duet that didn’t quite equal the Garland/Streisand version but got the crowd cheering.

The set featured able accompaniment from Matt Perri, who sang with McPhee on her finale, Sara Bareilles’ “Many the Mles.”  The show was directed by Ryan Kasprzak.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
February 27, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org